Myanmar Spring Chronicle – July 20 Scenes
MoeMaKa, July 21, 2023
A world eager to spend more on military weapons than humanitarian aid
In the operation to crush the ARSA armed group after they attacked border police outposts under the control of the Myanmar military in 2017, tens of thousands of Muslim ethnic groups who call themselves Rohingya and civilians who have been living in the northern Rakhine State of Myanmar for years have died, and nearly 1 million have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.
In September 2017, hundreds of millions of people fled, leaving their homes and possessions due to threats to their lives and other reasons. It has been 6 years since they have been living in cramped conditions in the refugee camps of Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar and waiting for the conditions, guarantees, international and Bangladeshi assistance, and interventions to return to Myanmar.
On the Myanmar side, although the repatriation plans have been working since before the military coup, it could not be implemented due to the fact that the people who fled did not fully trust the plans of the military and the NLD government and other reasons. After 2021 military coup, in addition to the Rohingya issue, human rights violations in Myanmar have worsened and distrust of the military coup government has increased again. Because the military council wanted the fact that no matter how many Rohingya they could return home during their regime, they have been trying for repatriation since the coup year, but in recent months, the last attempt has failed.
After the military coup, killings and illegal arrests have been widespread in Myanmar, and the concern about returning to Myanmar for those who have taken refuge in neighboring countries will surely rise.
On the other hand, refugees are not allowed to work, and the children have not been allowed to study in schools in Bangladesh, but they have been temporarily taught in a refugee camp for 6 years. For the Rohingya refugees, they are not allowed to work, have no income, and are completely dependent on the aid provided to them. This year, international aid to the Rohingya refugees is gradually decreasing, and the lives of those living in the refugee camps are becoming more difficult. According to the news, the amount of food received per person per day is equivalent to about 27 cents on the dollar. Before that, it was $10, and before that, it was $12.
Internationally, it is not wrong to say that we are in a situation where the money supporting weapons for war is far more than the money providing humanitarian aid in the world. There may also be differences depending on which part of the world the war is taking place, and which part of the war refugees are fleeing. There are hundreds of millions of people suffering from natural disasters and civil wars, but instead of giving a million dollars to help those suffering and unable to eat enough food, they are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on wars and national defense expenses.
Among the leaders of governments in the world who are in power through elections or otherwise, you will find that more than half of governments make policies by giving priority to the interests of conservative policyholders, businessmen, billionaires, multi-billion dollar companies with subsidiaries around the world, and big companies that manufacture military weapons and military equipment. They don’t want to contribute even one penny to humanitarian aid, but they are not reluctant to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to help with war expenses.
It is sad to see the scenes where the promises given to the voters before voting do not follow through after they come to power, large profit-making companies supporting the party in power when they spend a lot of money on war, or on the military budget for fear of war or impending war, and world politics favoring the companies or businesses that gain wealth and profit from wars rather than those helping in humanitarian aid.